A devastated and inconsolable Lando Norris was moved to tears when he saw his first Formula 1 victory slip through his fingers at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday.
After taking the first pole position of his career in Sochi, Norris was on course for a fabulous first victory before losing the lead in a dramatic race with just two laps to go.
While people around him stopped for wet tires, Norris made the brave but ultimately misguided decision to stay outside and groom his McLaren across the line.
“No,” shouted Norris when race engineer Will asked Joseph for his judgment whether he should take over the intermediate rubber.
In the 49th of 53rd lap, Mercedes called Hamilton – against the will of the seven-time world champion. With four laps to go, Hamilton came out of the pit lane a quarter of a minute behind Norris.
But it soon made up for the difference, and when Norris slipped at corner five on lap 51 of 53, the McLaren driver’s dream of becoming Britain’s youngest F1 winner was over.
Norris crossed the checkered flag in seventh place, 87 seconds behind Hamilton. Max Verstappen went from last to second place, Carlos Sainz was third for Ferrari.
“I don’t know where to start,” said Norris. “I am unhappy, devastated. It’s heartbreaking. It’s a terrible feeling to be on the verge of winning a Grand Prix and then losing, not because of a silly mistake, but this way.
“We have called to stay outside, and we stand by that. It was the wrong one at the end of the day, but I made the decision as did the team.
“They thought I should box and I decided to stay outside. It was my choice, I thought it was the right way to go. But the rain got heavier than I was told or the team knew. We have to talk about that. “
Lando Norris at the Sochi Autodrome before it rained (Photo by Bryn Lennon / Getty Images)
Norris paused to offer his congratulations to Hamilton.
“I sympathize with Lando,” said Hamilton, who was two points ahead of Verstappen in the battle for the eighth title. “He’s so young. He has so many victories ahead of him. He did a fantastic job yesterday, he does a great job running this team.
“For me it was just blind faith in the end. When the team called me I thought, ‘Lando is right there and there are only three laps to catch up 24 seconds, I can’t do that’.
“I wasn’t convinced on the first lap when I left the pits, but on the next lap it rained more and I was definitely more convinced.
“The team was 100 percent right. I had to play my role to get us into that position for this to work, but teamwork makes the dream work. “
The post Lando Norris delivers an emotional reaction when a later mistake denies him his first Formula 1 victory first appeared on monter-une-startup.
